News

Foothills Trail Extension Begins

Oct 30 2007

The Foothills Trail is a conceptual trail spanning the foothills immediately west of Wenatchee that would connect the open spaces around Appleatchee (Dry Gulch), Saddle Rock, Castle Rock, the Sage Hills, and the Horse Lake ranches with one continuous walking trail. This concept is described in greater detail in the Foothills Trail slideshow found on this page.

That vision took another significant step toward completion on Sunday, October 28 with the breaking of new trail up Horse Lake Road on the eastern edge of the ranches that are currently owned by the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust (CDLT). Two miles of trail will span the Land Trust's property and link to pre-existing trails in the Sage Hills on land owned by the Chelan County PUD. Grant money for the project, which includes the building of the trail, and the building of trailheads on Horse Lake Road and on the Land Trust property in the Sage Hills by Day Drive, were obtained by the CDLT and the City of Wenatchee working in partnership.

The hope of the CDLT and its Trails Committee, the working group overseeing the project, is to build as much of the trail as possible before December so that the soil can set up over the winter. The new trail will not be open to the public until 2008. The two trailheads that are part of the grant will not be worked on until spring or summer of 2008.

Many small work parties in November will extend the length of the trail. Contact Patrick Walker (667-9708) at the Land Trust if you want to contribute musclepower to the effort.